A small, sleepy grumble comes from Multi as he starts to wake up. His eyes open as his brain registers the feeling of something in his arms, only to see a big stuffed shark in them.
Huh?
The Multi-ghoul sits up with a confused look, his body aching from all the stress it was under just a few hours ago.
Wha.. what happened..?
He asks himself before looking down at his arms, remembering the events of a few hours ago, as he sees the still presence but weaker, golden glow in his vains.
Well, fuck-
"MULTI!!" Multiple voices where heared calling, pulling the attention of the Multi-ghoul over to where they come from, only to see Cumulus, Cirrus, and Rain running over to him, followed by Phil who walks, before hugging him, nearly crushing Multi's body between them while Phil stands at the side, watching the interaction.
Wha- huh?
"We thought you were going to die.. we were so worried after hearing what happened.." Cumulus explains, still holding tightly onto the tall Ghoul.
"Oh.. no, no.. it's okay.. that just happens sometimes.." The Multi-ghoul's tries to reassure the three, only to make it worse, they all looking at him with worried eyes.
"What do you mean this is normal..?" Cirrus asks, now letting go of the Ghoul and sitting down on the couch. "That shouldn't be normally.."
Multi sighs as the other two also let go and sit down next to Cirrus, now wanting to know what happened and why it did. "It's a bit complicated to explain.." The tall Ghoul sighs while scratching the back of his head and looking down on the floor.
"We don't care. We want to know.." Rain replies, their eyes fixated on Multi with a soft and caring expression.
"Fine.." Multi lets out a sigh and pinches the bridge of his nose before continuing. "Elements are all connected to the soul, and it's normally just one at a time. And I have a bit of all connected to mine, but not in a natural way. And due to me not being born with them.. they sometimes act up and.." He sighs before adding. "You saw what happened.
"Oh.. so that's what you told us about in the car on the way back from shopping.." Cumulus points out, still seeming to be quite shaken up about everything, tho.
"Yea, that's what I told you about.." The Multi-ghoul murmers, fidgeting with his fingers.
"Well, there is at least a way to make these episodes less and not be as long." Phil chimes in as he pats Multi's back, earning himself a glare from the taller Ghoul.
"Yea. But someone was always high as fuck when he was supposed to teach me how to use quintessence." Multi grumbles while continuing to glare at Phil.
"Hey, that's how I stay spiritual." The Quintessence-ghoul argues with an eye roll. "Don't question my methods. And besides, your second strongest element is water, when all you did was fuck Delta instead of learning." He adds, a small growl being audible in his voice.
"Don't." Multi snarls, his tail giving a small flick as his eyes meet the shorter Ghoul's.
"Uhm.. who is Delta..?" Cumulus asks quietly, not wanting to get caught in the crossfire.
"Delta was a Water-ghoul here at the clergy.. a long time ago.. he was here during the end of Nihil's and until around the middle of Primo's era.." Phil explains with a sigh while looking at the Ghoullett, still feeling Multi glare at him.
"Oh.." The Air-ghoullett breathes out, looking a bit more confused than before. Rain stays quiet, his gaze directed at the floor, and is fidgeting with the webbing between his hands. "And.. what happened to Delta..?"
"He-" Phil starts but gets imidiatly talked over by the Multi-ghoul.
"He died. End of story." Multi grumbles as he gets up, nearly falling as his legs suddenly give out under him. The tall Ghoul was just able to catch himself on the couch before hitting the ground, making the others look at him worried.
"Maybe take it a bit more easy.. you still seem to be exhausted.." Cirrus sighs as she gets up from the couch, wanting to help the Multi-ghoul who is already standing stable on both his legs again.
"I'm fine. Just leave me alone." Multi grumbles while pushing himself off the side of the couch and walking towards the staircase, stumbling it up towards his room.
"No, Rain, leave him." Phil calls after the Water-ghoul who was about to go after Multi. "He's always grumpy after his episodes.. just give him space and time to rest.." The Quintessence-ghoul sighs while patting Rain's shoulder. "He will go to you when he wants to.."
"But.. I want to help.." Rain argues, looking at the stairs with a sad expression and has his tail curled around one of his legs. "I don't want him to be sad.."
"I know.. but that's best for now.." Cumulus, who just walked over, agrees with Phil and gives the Water-ghoul a small head pat. "And you." She continues while glaring at the Quintessence-ghoul. "You knew it was a sensitive topic. So don't just throw it out like that." He sighs and nods his head.
"Yea, I know.. sorry." Phil apologises, earning him an eye roll from Cumulus.
"Don't apologise to us. Apologies to Multi." The Air-ghoullett says while shaking her head and gently pulling Rain over to the couch where Cirrus waits, holding their stuffed shark, which he originally gave to Multi when the tall Ghoul was passed out.
"Come, Rainy.. let's watch a movie and relax a bit.. Multi is going to be okay.."
"Fine.." The Water-ghoul mutters, letting himself get pulled towards the couch, shooting Phil a small glare on his way there.
"I already said I would apologise to him. There's no need to glare at me." Phil murmers under his breath with an annoyed tone before leaving the common room and the Ghoul den.
~~~~~~~~
Aether's ears perk up when he hears a knock on his door. With a sigh, he puts the guitar aside and walks over to it. After opening the door, his eyes meet with Multi's.
Multi?
"What the fuck are you doing here?" The Quintessence-ghoul asks with a raised eyebrow before seeing that the slightly taller Ghoul seems to be upset. The Multi-ghoul's pointy ears are down, his tail limp behind him, and his shoulders slumped. "What happened..?"
"Don't really want to talk about it.. just need to be around someone who won't ask thousand questions about my past.." Multi sighs, scratching his left underarm while turning his head away from Aether. "And Mountain is in the greenhouse.. so I didn't want to bother him.."
The Quintessence-ghoul looks slightly concerned at the taller Ghoul before stepping aside and letting him in. "Fine. Come in." He sighs. Multi's pointy ears perk up slightly at that, and a small smile tucks at the corner of his lips as he steps into Aether's room with a murmered, "Thank you, Aeth.."
Aether's room is very clean and organised, and the interior is in more dark colours. He kept the old wooden floor and walls. A black carpet lies at his bed, which is about the same size as Multi's, with the sheets being in a dark grey colour. A few candles are visible on the nightstand next to the bed. The dresser and desk stand on the opposite side of the room, both in a black, like the rest of the wooden furniture. The couch is black and stands on a purple greyish carpet. An AMP that is connected over a cord to Aether's fantomen stands next to the couch with the guitar lying on the couch.
"Hm.. It looks pretty cool." Multi murmers while looking around the room before his eyes land on Aether, who sits on the couch with his guitar again.
"Thanks," the Quintessence-ghoul response, while strumming the strings of the guitar. "I have to practice the songs, so don't bother me."
"Oh, what songs?" The slightly taller asks as he walks over, sitting down next to Aether who hands over two lyric sheets. "See the light and Rats." Multi murmers the name of the songs. "Did the Cardinal write these?"
"Yea, he did." Aether answers simply, focusing on his playing.
"He does like rats, doesn't he?" The Multi-ghoul chuckles softly as he reads through the songs, earning him a confused look from the other.
"I mean, he literally named one song Rats, and in the other, one of the first lyrics is 'Many a rat I've befriended'." He points out with a small grin on his lips.
"Yea, I guess he does." The Quintessence-ghoul mutters, moving his focus back on his guitar.
"I finally have a nickname for him." Multi mutters under his breath with a grin on his lips, his tail starting to sway a bit frow side to side while he hums the lyrics along to Aether's guitar playing.
"Can you play an instrument of sing?" The slightly shorter Ghoul asks after a bit of silence between the two Ghouls.
"The Emeritus brothers taught me how to sing when I was first topside, and Alpha taught me how to play guitar in his free time." The Multi-ghoul answeres as he relaxes against the couch, his eyes glued to the paper of the two songs. "But I don't know if I still can do either."
"How about just trying it?" Aether suggests, giving the taller Ghoul a small smile and a little nudge into his side with the spade of his tail, earning a little laugh from the Multi-ghoul.
"Okay, okay. I'll try, but I can't promise anything!" Multi chuckles and picks out the lyrics to 'see the light'.
~~~~~~~~
It's been about two hours since Aether let Multi into his room, and they started to practice songs together. The two Ghouls have abandoned the guitar and lyric sheets and are now just talking and joking around, Aether laying on the couch, and Multi sitting next to it in the carpet, leaning against the couch.
"Yea, I'm telling you! Gamma was such a scary looking Ghoul but would rather have an allergic shock than tell a waiter to take his food back because there were nuts in it." Multi laughs while talking about the Earth-ghoul that used to be the drummer during Primo's and a Secondo's era before Pebble took over, making the other laugh.
"I always hered about Gamma being scary and dangerous!" Aether replied with a laugh while looking at the Multi-ghoul.
"Yea, most think so! But he's a huge softy and ball of anxiety!" He chuckles, resting his head against the couch.
"Who else was around when you were here?" The Quintessence-ghoul asks, now interested to hear more about the slightly taller ghouls past at the Ministry.
"Omega as quintessence, Alpha as fire, Beta as air, Gamma as earth, and.. Delta as water.." Multi answers before looking up at the ceiling. "Tho, he preferred the name Chain.."
"Oh.. I heard about Chain from Alpha.. he died, didn't he..?" Aether sighs, also moving his gaze towards the ceiling.
"Yes.. he died.. and I got sent back to the pit around the same time, actually.." Multi mutters with a much more sd tone in his voice.
"Oh.." The Quintessence-ghoul murmers, looking at Multi from the corner of his eyes. "Were you two close?" He asks with a raised eyebrow, trying to keep the questions small and a few to not overwhelm the Multi-ghoul.
"Yea.. you could say that.." The slightly taller Ghoul mutters while placing a hand on the space between his shoulder and the crock of the left side of his neck, onto a very faded yet still slightly visible bite mark.
Aether's eyes widen, and his ears perk up slightly as he understands what Multi just put his hand over.
Words:2009
AN: I'm not sick anymore, so I will probably update less frequently than I did the last few days ;-;