#anymore | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

forlorn-crows · 1 year

Note

IT'S MOUNTAIN MONDAY BITCH

As such, may I request some big boy sweetness? Mountain and Aether, basking in one another in the warm spring sun? Smut or not, up to you ♡

AND the first day of spring!!!

enjoy some big boy banter (with guest appearance by Rainy boy) ♡

A brief shadow dances across the backs of Mountain’s eyelids, a shapeless form against the almost too-bright sun.

"Soaking up the sun, big guy?" It’s Aether’s voice, warm and rich as the first breeze of spring that sailed through the earth ghoul’s window this morning.

Mountain cracks open an eye, searching for the quintessence ghoul. He finds him just off to his side, looking at him with an amused expression and hands on his hips. The earth ghoul closes his eyes and sighs with a smile, settling further into the fresh new grass growth. "Recharging,” Mountain answers. He spreads his limbs out further, reminiscent of a gangly starfish.

The ground is still damp, but he doesn’t care. The sun shines high in the afternoon sky, and a perfect patch of its light hovers on the embankment next to the abbey’s lake. That’s where he’d decided to sprawl out and just take it all in. Bask. Recharge. Soak up that first connection to new life that thrives within his element.

Rain had trailed along soon after, padding by Mountain in bare feet towards the dock. He had disappeared into the water just as quickly, leaving the earth ghoul to lie contentedly in the grass alone.

“Mind if I join you?” Aether asks now, already shucking his boots and socks.

“‘Course not; please do.” Mountain breathes another lungful of fresh spring air, voiding his lungs in a gleeful, satisfied exhale. “Nice, isn’t it?”

“Very,” Aether agrees. He flexes his feet in the plush grass, wiggling his toes among the budding clover. The quintessence ghoul plops down near Mountain’s head, gently shuffling so his shins touch the top of his head. “Come here.” Aether scratches behind Mountain’s horn and pats the top of his shoulder. The earth ghoul lets out a trill of curiosity, craning his head to see Aether inviting him to lay across his lap. “I’ll play with your hair,” he sing-songs, scratching behind his horn again.

Mountain smiles and shifts to butt up his shoulders with Aether’s legs, snuggling his head into the cradle of his lap. He won’t turn down an offer for someone to run their fingers through his hair.

Aether starts to do just that, combing Mountain’s mousy brown tresses out from under his neck and away from his face. “Didn’t Rain come out here, too?” Aether asks, causally scanning the lake and surrounding area for the water ghoul.

“I think he’s at the bottom of the lake again,” Mountain laughs, adjusting the angle of his head to give Aether better access. “Been down there a while now.”

“Hm,” Aether hums amusedly. “Isn’t the water pretty cold still?”

“Borderline frigid. I don’t know how he does it.”

Aether works through a small knot, picking out what looks like a bramble or a tiny jagged pinecone. He shakes his head with a smile before tossing it aside. “I think he does it so he can cozy up to Dew after he’s done pretending to be a frog.”

Mountain snorts. “Oh, I bet. Doting on him as if Rain doesn’t also carve a hole in the ice sometimes to still go swimming.”

Aether shudders. “No thank you. That’s probably colder than the void.”

“Probably.” Mountain hums as Aether grazes his claws over the top of his scalp, having worked through any remaining knots. The bottom half of his hair is cool to the touch, slightly wet from the damp earth they’re lounging on. Aether smoothes it all back into a vague ponytail and lets it fall into the space between his crossed legs.

A comfortable silence settles over the two, broken only by the occasional purr from Mountain. Aether continues to trace nonsensical patterns through his hair, enjoying the sounds of thriving nature around them.

“Have you gone to the woods recently?”

Mountain twitches, the question startling him from Aether’s lulling fingers and the desire for a nap already pulling at the edges of his brain. “Hm?”

“You know; Rain pretends to be a frog at the bottom of the lake, and you pretend to be Bigfoot.”

Mountain barks a laugh and swats at Aether with his tail. “What do you mean, Bigfoot? How do you even know what Bigfoot is?”

“I do know how to read, you know. And you’re fond of leaving that weird nature channel on in the common room.”

Mountain rolls his eyes. “And where does that leave you, big guy?”

“I don’t pretend to be anything. I simply,” he waves his hands above Mountain’s face as if demonstrating a disappearing act, “cease to exist. In this plane, anyway.”

“You pretend to be a ghost and scare innocent Siblings in the corridors, got it.”

Aether chuckles, a deep, resonating belly laugh that vibrates through Mountain’s skull—only in the best way, of course. “I have never done such a thing.” It’s a lie, and they both know it.

There’s a pause. Aether goes back to combing through the earth ghoul’s hair. “I suppose it’s been a pretty brutal winter. Wouldn’t want to spend too much time in it, myself.”

Mountain sighs, snuggles further into Aether’s lap. “I went once, when I couldn’t sleep and things were tense. But that was months ago.”

Aether makes a noncommittal noise, scratching behind Mountain’s long, rounded ears. He feels the earth ghoul’s tail thump against his thigh, a happy little movement that stops and starts again when he moves to the other ear. The quintessence ghoul sighs, tipping his head towards the sun.

“‘S nice now,” he mutters. Mountain only hums in response, letting out a soft sigh when Aether runs his claws from the crown of his head to the nape of his neck.

They’re content to continue like that, time stretching slowly before them. Sometime later—minutes, hours, Aether isn’t sure—something catches the corner of his eye. It’s a fluttering thing, peeking out from the budding clover. A small, cream-colored butterfly makes its way near the two ghouls, looking almost like a big flake of fresh snow.

“Aw, Mount look,” Aether says softly. The ghoul on his lap only snuffles in response, ear twitching to Aether’s voice. The little bug floats away just as quickly as it came, off to find a more cozy spot to land.

“Mount?” Aether peeks over the crown of the earth ghoul’s head to find him fast asleep, breathing even and mouth slightly parted. Aether smiles fondly, returning his hand to Mountain’s hair.

There’s a rippling of the lake water against the shore, followed by the sloshing of rising bubbles. Rain surfaces half a minute later, leisurely paddling back to shore, gills flaring and sparkling in the sun. The water ghoul waves when he spots Aether on the embankment, briskly shaking out his hair and grabbing a towel and his discarded lounge pants.

Quiet on your way up, Mountain fell asleep, Aether reaches out with his mind to the approaching ghoul.

‘Kay, Rain answers easily back. He wears a lazy smile as he walks up to them, waving again at Aether.

“He needs it,” Rain whispers to Aether, regarding Mountain’s sleeping form. He cocks his head, titling to get a better look at something. He smiles when he finds it, shaking his head. “Yeah, definitely needs it. I’ll see ya, Aethe, gonna go bother Dew for his body heat.” Rain trots off, leaving a whiff of kelp and sea salt in his wake.

Aether looks over at the spot in question. Mountain’s left arm now rests on the grass, having dropped off from its previous spot on his chest. There’s patches of moss growing along the soft skin on the underside of his forearm, bright green against dusty gray. The little clover buds reach up to kiss his skin, flowering as they mingle with the tiny hands of the moss.

Aether smiles softly. “Get your rest, my sweet earth giant,” he whispers, placing a barely-there kiss on his forehead.

The quintessence ghoul almost misses the crop of orange blossoms that sprout at the nape of his neck, only revealed when Aether returns his hands to Mountain’s hair once more.

195 notes · View notes