A Ghostly Gift
Gift exchange for @dappersdoodles :)
‘Twas the night before Christmas
And all through the house
Not a creature was stirring
Not even a mouse...
“Aether, where the FUCK is the tinsel?”
“I thought you didn’t want to do this,” Aether smirked to himself in amusement at the smaller ghoul. Anger falling from his face as he realised the drop of his façade, Dewdrop stomped in a manner that was a little too dramatic to be genuine moodiness and spluttered “n-no! I just want to get it over with is all! I mean, who would want to be dressed like this? It’s-it’s...”
Aether raised his eyebrows expectantly, trying not to break into a grin at the pink warmth growing on Dew’s face.
“Well...you know...ridiculous.”
Aether just couldn’t keep the laughter in. A hearty chuckle rumbled out from him and echoed on the old stone around the pair. It wasn’t his fault - it was impossible not to when Dew was so cute pouting in that adorable reindeer onesie. A fiery blush worked its way across Dew’s cheeks as he glared at the larger ghoul, just about to snap a retort when the rest of their motley crew rounded the corner of the abbey courtyard.
“Oh my God, Dew, you look so cute!!” Cumulus squealed, pulling him into a tight hug which the petite male pretended to try and squirm out of.
“Get off me, Cumulus! Cute is so not my style.” He grumbled.
“Well, it’s not my style either but at least it’s comfortable.” Cirrus shrugged. “I think Papa might have underestimated Mountain’s height though.”
Looking over to him, the others noted that Mountain’s onesie ended almost at his knees and he frowned as he sighed heavily, already mourning his normal clothes. A short snicker came from the fire ghoul at the sight but was quickly halted by a couple of sharp elbows in the ribs (courtesy of Rain and Cumulus, nonetheless) who quickly tried to placate the towering male across from them with soft, reassuring coos.
“I thought they were quite nice,” Swiss commented haughtily. “Although...” He swivelled round and bent at the waist, one hand on his hips and the other resting pensively on his chin. “Does it make my ass look too fat?”
“I’m not sure that’s possible, Swiss.” Rain answered, completely straight faced whilst Dewdrop continued to suppress his laughter at the risk of incoming punishment. “But in any case, I don’t think this is the worst outcome from the Cardinal losing a bet.”
“Hm, I just wish he didn’t have to use us as a bargaining chip.” Mountain mumbled in deep baritone.
“Well, at least it was a bet with the third and not the second.” Aether replied, crossing his arms and huffing a quiet laugh as Dew paled visibly at the prospect. “Who knows what nightmares he would subject us to?”
The group shuddered collectively at the thought. None had been told specifically what was to be expected of this evening with the third, only to wear the the festive pyjamas and be in the courtyard of the abbey on time. So far, the only one who hadn’t made it there promptly was his excellency himself and regardless of how fashionable or not the outfits were, the group were certainly glad to be wearing something warm in the chill of the winter evening as their breath came in puffs of thick mist.
The courtyard itself was bare under the pale light of the moon and had the ghouls wondering why they were called out here in the first place. Originally, the group had mused that perhaps they were to participate in a play for the clergy as a strange celebration of Yule - or perhaps something more...sinister...but having seen that they were obviously not in a theatre or in front of an audience, they were only more confused. Perhaps they would be incorporated into a strange ritual or made to do physical labour - maybe the third just wanted to laugh at them in their new get up.
When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter...
Suddenly, said papa rushed around the corner of the abbey in a flash, his feet furiously striking the ground in quick, light taps and looking for all the world as if about to shout something awe-inspiring...before slipping on the icy stones and falling flat on his face.
Dewdrop wondered whether tonight was simply an exercise in torture as he yet again went blue in the face trying to contain his laughter at the sight of the third, face down in the grass with his ass stuck straight up in the air. However, Dew wasn’t the only one trying to suppress himself as the rest of the group were trying equally as hard not to break the silence of the untimely fall by revealing the hilarity of it all. When the small, pained giggles did start to break free, papa finally raised his head and blushed for a moment in embarrassment that was almost adorable before laughing himself, prompting everyone to break out in loud hysterics.
Once the laughter had finally died down and the tears wiped away, the third stood gingerly, trying out his limbs to make sure nothing had been injured before putting any real weight on them, and the group finally had a good look at his outfit.
“Um, sir...” Cumulus started.
“Is that a...Santa suit?” Dew finished incredulously.
“Ah! You noticed!” Papa affirmed with renewed vigour, pointing his finger in the air energetically. “Yes, I caught wind of this new trend the kids are hopping on and thought we should follow suit - pardon the pun. Very nice, eh?”
“You mean Christmas?” Cirrus supplemented hesitantly.
“Why would you want to start celebrating Christmas? And that still doesn’t explain why you’re in a Santa suit - even though, I have to say, it looks very good on you, sir.” Swiss said with a teasing wink at the third.
“Ooh, I like you.” Papa returned with an equally flirtatious smile which caused an incredibly rare flush to bless the ghoul’s high cheekbones. “It’s common sense really, the jolly fat man is known by almost everyone on the planet! Why not use that to our advantage? It’s a genius idea if you ask me.”
“So...you want to pretend to be Santa so we can spread the clergy’s message?” Aether said.
“Exactly! And it’s a good job I cheated-I mean, that your cardinal lost our bet, too.”
“Why?” Everyone asked, puzzled.
“Because,” Papa dropped to a whisper as they all leaned in curiously. “You are all very much necessary to my plan.”
The teasing atmosphere of before was gone and replaced briefly by an air of confusion and wariness as the ghouls once again dwelled on the daunting question of why they would be necessary before the third straightened and resumed his eccentric performance.
“Now, let’s hop to it!” He jumped up and started walking briskly out of the courtyard and into the woods beyond, leaving the bemused group trailing behind him.
“Wait, where are we going?” Dew asked, annoyed.
“No, no, no,” Papa replied, not even breaking a sweat still, despite the others panting heavily behind him. “Patience, young one, can’t ruin the surprise!”
Again, Dew tried to calm the traitorous blush that once again bloomed on his face. He couldn’t quite tell if it was from embarrassment at being scolded or just from the third’s overly flirtatious manner but he had little time to ponder it further as only a few moments later, they found themselves at the edge of a vast clearing, covered in a light dusting of white frost.
“See? Here we are!”
The ghouls all looked in childish wonder at the spectacle before them, with Dew and Cumulus even letting out a delighted squeal.
“Wow.” Swiss said, equally as stunned.
Before them, situated perfectly in the centre of the clearing and illuminated like moonlit velvet, was a huge, black...sleigh.
[A/N: that’s right, get your mind out of the gutter, folks.] And it was a thing of midnight beauty; the railings and silver grucifix adorning the sides gleamed as bright as shooting stars and the interior was made of plush leather the deep red of a fine french wine - a luxurious gothic steed befitting of its owner to be sure. Said owner now stood with his hands on his hips, very pleased with himself as he regarded the ghoul’s jaws resting on the floor.
“Pretty ah...impressive, hm?”
“EE-“ Dew squeaked excitedly before remembering himself and coughing. “I mean, it’s-it’s...alright, I guess.”
Terzo found himself biting his cheek at that, he couldn’t reveal his amusement now.
“Good, now onto business.”
The group snapped to attention - well, all but Swiss, who was busy touching every inch of the thing to examine the luxe materials and muse about designers and such. All of them knew. They knew that now would be when he would strike, when papa would finally drop this mask and crack the whip. The cardinal was always very kind with them and treated them like his surrogate family but they were never under any illusions about how brutal the regency could be. Many a ghoul had been handed to the papas and come back completely different, refusing to speak of what they had seen or done.
“Ghouls,” The Papa commanded and again, they straightened with a fearful jolt.
And they waited.
Rain resisted swiping a hand across his bow as sweat started to drip down. Aether could feel his heart pound like it was Mountain himself in the ghoul’s chest, Cirrus starting to tremble slightly in the corner of his eye. Even Swiss stood rim-rod straight to await what was coming.
“I want you...”
The tension became palpable as the group held a collective breath.
“To help pull the sleigh, of course!”
They blinked.
Then blinked again.
What?
“What?” They asked in unison.
“Well, I can’t move it by myself, can I?”
“You mean it works?” Mountain demanded in an unexpected boom of sound.
“What do you mean? Of course it works! How else am I going to spread the word?”
“But, sir...we can’t fly.” Cumulus said softly, careful as she glanced over at Dew, his eyes a little too shiny to be just from the moonlight.
Terzo only chuckled to himself and beckoned the (somehow even more) confused group to the sleigh until they had all found a seat: himself, Dewdrop, Aether and Rain in the front while Mountain, Swiss, Cumulus and Cirrus took the back bench. He held his hands out in front, confidently, and closed his eyes in the picture of serenity before instructing them.
“Now, I want you all to copy me. Take a deep breath...”
They did.
“And imagine yourselves floating, light as a feather.”
There was nothing for a moment and the ghouls wondered whether they really were just on an evening of babysitting the senile but then the sleigh gave a heavy groan...and miraculously, the runners lifted, slowly rising inch-by-inch until the group were suspended almost six feet in the air. Dew didn’t try to stop his thrilled squeal this time.
“OH MY GOD OH MY GOD AETHER WE’RE FLYING WE’RE FLYING AETHER YOU GOTTA LOOK OH MY GOD-“
“Not quite flying yet, boy.” Terzo halted his excited rambling but couldn’t help smiling warmly at the ghoul at his outburst. “We’ll be gone in no time and handing out our lovely gifts for the little kiddies.”
Hearing of such gifts, the group in the backseat looked behind them to the huge black velvet bag and peeked inside to reveal...
“You’re giving them merch?” Swiss asked incredulously. Inside were the warm blue blankets, hundreds of T Shirts and-
“You can’t possibly be thinking of giving them the phallos mortus set!” Cumulus screeched suddenly.
“AHHH NO,” Terzo coughed. “No, no, that-that isn’t supposed to be there. Secundo must have...erm...put that there.”
Spluttering profusely about how it definitely wasn’t his or his idea, the third clambered into the back to throw the set out of the sleigh before coming back to face Dew.
“Now boy, I have a special job for you.” He said warmly.
“What?” Dee breathed with wonder.
“I need you to light my way.”
“You want me to be...your rudolf?”
The rest of the ghouls looked at the pair like they had just stripped down to their underwear and were prancing round the clearing, holding hands.
“How the hell is Dew going to be Rudolph? You got an LED nose in there, old man?” Cirrus said before stiffening as Terzo narrowed his eyes in a downright glare.
“You’re a fire ghoul, aren’t you?”
Dew nodded, confused.
“Well, just - boop!” He tapped the ghoul’s nose.
Dewdrop blinked for a moment, blushing hotly at the unanticipated contact before peeking up and gasping.
“Oh, you mean like this?”
A small flame bloomed to life on the tip of his nose and his eyes crossed as he tried to keep sight of it, Terzo letting out a small chuckle.
“Ah yes, fabulous.” He said, the light from the flame dancing in his eyes with laughter. “Now one more thing...the magic words to make us set off.”
The others chittered excitedly, finally all on board for the trip they were to take after all of the third’s encouragement. At his prompt, they huddled together, becoming a mass of brown fur and poorly disguised horns. As he whispered in their ears the words, there arose a collective groan but the group sat down again, nonetheless.
And finally, after all his hard work, the sleigh rose once again, shook slightly and shot off into the sky as Terzo and the ghouls cheered-
“Merry Christmas to all
And to all a good night!”
