Work Text:
Living with ghouls can be a little…overwhelming, at times. Especially when cohabitating with demons of such different elemental natures. So, they all have their ways and places they use to chill on their own, away from the rest of their kin. Dewdrop usually locks himself in his room; Swiss finds a nice tree to climb; Mountain goes to the library; Aether helps out Copia with paperwork; Cirrus and Cumulus occupy the solarium for lengthy periods of time.
However, the water ghoul sometimes needs to be utterly alone to be able to recharge his batteries, that’s why not even the abbey’s gardens do it for him during those times. Instead, he needs to be someplace where not only the other ghouls can’t bother him, but where he’s basically isolated from everyone else as well. Away from members of the Clergy and Siblings of Sin alike. Somewhere he can truly be at peace.
It wasn’t easy finding such a place and it took him several months to do so since being summoned by the Cardinal. Yet when he finally found the perfect spot, he fell in love with it. Even when it was only a dirty mess compared to what it is now. Because Rain is nothing if not dedicated to caring for what’s been neglected. At least when it comes to nature.
He had found a spot, deep in the woods that surround the abbey, that was absolutely untouched. Far away from any traveled paths; a place that he was certain no one knew about nor would they come to find any time soon. So far removed it is, that no one would even think of coming close to it.
Surrounded by tall trees with plenty of foliage that still let enough sunlight through for thick grass to grow. The rest of the ground was either covered by moss or protruding roots from the ancient trees. There were also a few rocks here and there, and a narrow stream ran not far away from the tiny clearing.
In that place, wild and untamed, Rain found a pet project of his own: turning the clearing into a secret garden that only he knew the existence of. A place where he could retreat to any time living with his fellow demons became too much for him and he needed a little respite.
Still, turning that unkempt part of the forest into a garden that met his standards was no easy task. It took a lot of time to shape it into something that he was satisfied with and even proud of. Especially since he had to do it in secret and with everyone else remaining none the wiser about it. Given touring and rehearsals, as well as whatever other activities he was tasked with doing in the abbey, that left him with little time to spend on his secret spot.
That’s why it took him almost a year to finish working on it. But it was completely worth it.
Now, the clearing has enough sunlight shining on it to keep it warmer than the surrounding area, while still allowing for shade to cover various places to escape the abrasive summer sun. The grass is softer and lusher than ever, there are no fallen leaves or sticks on the ground, and the rocks have been arranged in either more aesthetical or practical ways, serving as seats or tables or just decoration. The moss has been rearranged to serve as a plush carpet in some places as well, which ultimately turns the garden into the perfect place for resting amongst nature.
And, of course, it wouldn’t be a Rain garden if there wasn’t a considerable amount of different kinds of plants and flowers, which give the clearing its liveliest feature. All of them are tended to by the bassist with diligence and care, so the garden has become his most beloved possession. His safe space. One that he fears could be ruined as soon as someone finds out about it.
But what he truly dreads is for a particular ghoul with an affinity for chaos and destruction to ever come across his most sacred space.
A sunny Tuesday afternoon finds Rain relaxing in his secret garden after being able to scurry off to the woods unnoticed. He waited until all of his bandmates were either occupied somewhere outside the common room or just distracted. He also had to avoid running into any Siblings or Clergy members that could’ve needed his assistance.
Fortunately for him, he succeeded in his endeavor and soon enough he found himself sitting in his garden, enjoying the warm sunlight.
Unfortunately for him, he never realized that he wasn’t the only one out in the woods that day. That’s how a certain someone ends up stumbling into the secret spot Rain had been trying his damn best to keep from the others.
“What the hell is this place?”
As soon as Rain hears Dewdrop’s question, his head snaps up to look with growing alarm at his fellow ghoul. All the water ghoul can think about is to find a way to get the other out of there before something catches on fire.
“What are you doing here?”
“What are you doing here?” The smaller ghoul retorts in accusation.
With neither of them answering the other’s question, both ghouls remain locked in a tense staring contest. They are waiting to see who will cave in first, although they aren’t sure who it could be. Dewdrop is the stubbornest of the ghouls, while Rain’s anxiety can keep him mute for long enough to make others uncomfortable.
Ultimately, though, it is the bassist who wins after his silence annoys his bandmate to the point of wanting to be more civilized and less threatening about the subject.
“Seriously, what’s up with this place? I’ve never seen it before.”
“That was the point,” Rain quietly admits. “This is supposed to be my place, away from anyone else. Especially from you.”
“Hey! What did I ever do to deserve that kind of treatment?!”
Instead of answering the pointless question, Rain limits himself to just stare at the other, pointing out the obvious with his charged silence.
“Okay, point taken,” the fire ghoul concedes, defeated. “Still, just because I know about it doesn’t mean I’m gonna set it on fire. You guys think so badly of me.”
His last, offended comment is aimed not only at the ghoul presently sitting in front of him but at the others as well. However, he knows that he’s just being a drama queen for the sake of it and that, although it can be exaggerated at times, they are all right to be concerned about his pyromaniac tendencies. Still, it is in his nature, so he just can’t avoid it sometimes.
Also, the fact that Rain considers him such a destructive force of nature does flatter him a lot. Although he would never admit to that.
“I’m not saying you would burn it on purpose. But you can be a little reckless when you aren’t paying enough attention.”
“Whatever. I’m not gonna fucking burn this place down, okay?”
Despite Dew’s promise, Rain still seems unconvinced. Not only because he doubts his friend’s self-control, but because he knows he can be a loudmouth. Especially when drunk.
“Fuck’s sake. What do I need to do for you to trust me?”
“I can never fully trust you, Dew, you know that. It is in your unpredictable nature, after all,” Rain points out with a sigh. “Although, you have been managing your powers better as of late.”
“Damn right, I have! All the fires I’ve caused in the past six weeks have been exclusively intentional.”
Dewdrop’s announcement shouldn’t be made with such pride, given that he just basically admitted to committing arson on multiple occasions. However, he knows that the other ghoul won’t rat him out about it. Not after he found out a dirty little secret of Rain’s. One could even say that they are on even ground.
“Yet what still worries me is the fact that you even know about this place. I don’t trust you to keep your mouth shut, nor to not use this as blackmail material.”
“Chill out, man. I get it, okay? We all need our little havens around here. That’s why I always throw stuff at whoever knocks on my door. To keep them from even doing it in the first place.”
“That doesn’t work on Aether, though.”
“Well, someone has to take the fall, ya know?”
“Will you keep this a secret for me then?”
Rain’s anxious and hopeful question makes the fire ghoul consider his plea for a while. Even though he likes to think of himself as an agent of evil, a mischievous little ghoul who loves dunking on everyone and taking every opportunity available to breed chaos, Rain is his best friend. The water ghoul can understand him in a way no one else can, despite their clashing natures. Not even Aether, who’s the most sympathetic amongst all of them, gets him so well. So, in the end, he doesn’t want to ruin the only thing the other has going for himself.
“I will. Promise,” Dew says, raising his right hand.
Upon hearing confirmation from the other ghoul, Rain can finally expel a sigh of relief before exchanging nods of understanding with the guitarist.
“Anyway, guess I’ll see you around back in the abbey.”
“Wait.”
As Dewdrop made to leave the garden and its keeper alone, the bassist felt the urge to stop him.
Given how solicitous Dewdrop is being, considering the position of power he’s in, Rain feels compelled to offer something in return. Even if it might be just to further cement the other’s compliance, and although it might come back later to bite him in the ass.
“You can hang out with me for a bit if you want.”
“You serious? Didn’t you say you come here to be alone?”
“I don’t feel like being alone right now,” Rain offers with a tentative smile, hidden behind his mask.
Still, the little gesture can be heard in his voice, which prompts the smaller ghoul to walk up to the tree his friend has been lying against all that time.
As Dewdrop settles against the same trunk, stretching his legs out in front of him before crossing them at the ankles, he can’t help but bring up the previous issue.
“Did you truly think I would set this place on fire?”
“You do have certain tendencies… But I also feared that you would mock me for it.”
The water ghoul’s admission is enough to further confuse the fire ghoul, who didn’t expect that to be a reason as well. Even though he should have expected it.
“Why? I mean, yeah, I did make fun of you for making flower crowns during our first Midsommar festival, and later the first time I saw you braiding the Sisters’ hair. But I‒”
Dew’s abrupt interruption of his own sentence is enough to pique Rain’s interest, seeing as the guitarist seldom is lost for words.
“You what?”
“I did it ‘cause I was jealous,” Dew admits begrudgingly, a bit embarrassed.
“Jealous? Of what?”
“I don’t know how to braid hair and mine is always a mess because of the mask and all. I would like to be able to braid it so it wouldn’t be tangled after I take this damned thing off.”
The frustrated ghoul gestures with his right hand toward the metal mask covering his face. He has a love-hate relationship with it since, on one side, it helps him hide his emotions, but on the other, it’s just bothersome to wear the thing all the time.
Yet as Rain finally understands the other’s predicament, he decides to break the rules a little bit.
“What are you doing?”
Dewdrop’s question is uttered as soon as he notices his friend slowly pulling his mask from his face before taking off the black balaclava as well, letting down his shoulder-length dark brown hair. And even though all the ghouls and ghoulettes know each other’s faces, it is still a rare sight to behold outside their quarters.
“Relax, I told you this place is secret. No one knows about it, or that we are here. We can take the masks off without a problem.”
“Why?”
“You said you wanted your hair to be braided, right?”
The offer has the fire ghoul’s tail swishing around in excitement while his scarlet eyes light up a little brighter when meeting his friend’s electric blue ones.
“Really? Would you do that for me?”
“Of course. We are friends, aren’t we?”
“Yeah,” Dew confirms with a little smile of his own.
As both musicians have taken off the items keeping their faces hidden, they also decide to drop the glamour that gives them a human-looking likeliness. One that they use from head to toe while on tour but are laxer about while residing in the abbey. That’s why their tails, clawed nails, and colorful eyes with an inhuman shine can be seen by Siblings of Sin and Clergy members.
And although that’s about it when in the presence of non-demon company, sometimes, some of them do let their forked tongues be seen as well, alongside their sharp fangs. Yet the fact remains that one of the abbey’s rules is that the ghouls and ghoulettes are required to wear their masks at all times outside their private quarters.
The pair of ghouls spend the time used to braid Dew’s long, ashen hair to talk about the garden. The smaller ghoul even dares to point out which plants and flowers in Rain’s collection he likes the most, talking about the ones which colors or aromas are the best.
Amidst that, Rain has the good sense to ask which particular ones he prefers, not referring to those present in the garden but out of all the plants he knows. Upon getting a tentative response from the other, the water ghoul promises to see what he can do about adding those plants to his collection.
That garners him his friend’s continued gratitude.
By the time the bassist is done braiding, Dew is sporting a beautiful French braid that reaches a bit past his shoulders and has little flowers of different colors masterfully woven through it. The colorful addition livens up the otherwise grim-looking locks of white-silver hair.
“Thanks.”
“No problem. Happy I could help out. Next time I can teach you if you want.”
“Yeah, that would be nice.”
With the task at hand done, the ghouls fall into a comfortable silence for a little while. Rain still sitting with his back against the trunk of a tree and Dew choosing to flop down on his stomach as he idly runs his fingers through the grass.
Nevertheless, the calmness only lasts a few more seconds before the fire ghoul inquires about something he just realized.
“Hold on a second. If this place is secret, who takes care of it while we’re on tour?”
“Mister Forge,” Rain replies nonchalantly.
“The weirdo that plays the fiddle at the town’s festivals?”
“Yeah, he owns a music store downtown, and he likes gardening too.”
The water ghoul’s explanation only serves to confuse the fire ghoul even more since he thought that the whole idea of the garden was to be kept a secret. So, in his mind, it doesn’t add up that Rain would leave its care to a stranger. Or, at the very least, an outsider.
“Why him and not a member of the Clergy?”
“Well, mister Forge understands plants like I do,” Rain explains while he gently manipulates the water within a plant to rearrange its posture slightly. “Also, the Clergy members love to gossip.”
“True that,” Dew agrees before his brows furrow once more. “How does he get in, though?”
“The backdoor. Since no one knows about this place, no one knows about him coming here.”
“Well thought.”
The backdoor that Rain’s referring to is a gate of the fence that surrounds the abbey’s property, one located at the furthermost back point of the forest behind the buildings and near the garden itself.
And with Dew’s last comment, both ghouls are content to bask in the sun for a little while longer, closing their slitted eyes and enjoying the silence only barely interrupted by the faraway singing of birds.
“Yo, you girls seen Dew and Rainy?” Swiss asks as soon as he returns from the kitchens with a bowl full of popcorn.
(Not popcorn that he made himself but that he asked the kitchen staff for, given that the ban the ghouls obtained after the cake debacle at Copia’s birthday party is still standing.)
He finds both ghoulettes sitting down on the couch in the common room, a spot in the middle reserved for him. They have been watching movies for most of the afternoon, only taking breaks to either go to the bathroom or refill their glasses and bowls of snacks.
Upon hearing the multi-instrumentalist question, Cirrus decides to answer as she fiddles with the remote control, browsing through their selection of movies.
“Dew’s probably napping and Rain must be out somewhere. Is a lovely day, after all.”
“Yeah, even Monty went out to read under one of the trees around the big fountain,” Cumulus adds, hands already reaching for the popcorn.
“Well, guess they’ll show up sooner or later,” Swiss dismisses as he sits down and places the bowl atop his thighs. “So, what we watchin’ now, ladies?”
With the choice being made (that being “Legally Blonde”), the ghoulettes and the ghoul get comfortable in their seats and begin to munch down on some popcorn as the movie starts.
Meanwhile, Mountain is enjoying some reading under the shade of a tree, the murmur of chatting serving as background white noise provided by those Siblings sitting around the beautiful white marble fountain at the center of one of the abbey’s most popular courtyards.
On the other end of the abbey’s grounds, where the chapel and the Ministry’s offices are located, Cardinal Copia and Aether are hard at work, cooped up inside the former’s office. As per usual, the quintessence ghoul is helping out the frontman with some paperwork, making sure that no mistakes are made; otherwise, the Cardinal would have to face the wrath of Sister Imperator and the belittling of Papa Nihil.
Singer and guitarist have been working since a bit past noon, too engrossed in their respective tasks to even notice the passage of time.
“Oh, would you look at that? It’s been three hours already,” Copia announces with a bit of surprise and guilt. “I think we can stop here for today.”
“Are you sure?” Aether asks, worry contorting his face underneath the silver mask. “There’s really not much left to do.”
“Nonsense! I kept you here for too long, making you miss out on such a lovely day. So, why don’t you go out and enjoy what’s left of the afternoon? The warm sunlight must feel very pleasant to you, fellows.”
Copia’s encouraging offer refers to the fact that demons enjoy sunlight given that its warmth reminds them of Hell. Or, at least, he likes to think so. Still, Aether would be lying if he said he wants to pass on the opportunity to be freed of dealing with more grueling paperwork.
“If you say so,” the ghoul concedes, faking hesitance. “Just don’t let Imperator find out that we didn’t finish today’s paperwork.”
“Of course! And thank you for helping me out again,” Copia thanks eagerly as he ushers the demon out of his office.
“No problem, see you tomorrow.”
With that last goodbye, Aether goes on his merry way, wondering what his fellow bandmates are doing and if he can join them.
What he blissfully ignores, though, is Sister Imperator entering Copia’s office right after he left, catching the Cardinal red-handed amidst his attempt to procrastinate what little paperwork was left for the day.