Hearts of the Lonely (Reader x Mountain Ghoul)

16- Summer Solstice

The summer solstice, June 21, quickly approached. You still had to ask the ghouls and Copia if they wanted to come to your apartment for a party. At first, you wanted to have a cook-out, but you realized that you had no grill. The ghouls were fans of parties, so you assumed they would be all right with food made on the stove and oven.

You had been stocking up on vegetables, pasta, ground beef, and hotdogs for the past few days. Now you were at the farmer's market looking for some fruit. The vendors had berries and grapes. The kind older lady running the stand in front of you recognized your pin design.

"Who gave you the cross pin, my child?" She asked, bagging the blueberries.

You debated whether or not to tell her that a ghoul gave it to you. "A friend."

"No. A special friend. Who works in the ministry and is close to the ghouls." She gave you a knowing smile.

"How- how do you know?" You asked in shock. No one was around since it was late, but you still kept your voice down.

"Only the ghouls wear metal crosses. The rest are plastic imitations. I used to work for the Ministry." Her soft voice explained. "How do you think they can afford necklaces and pins for everyone?"

"I never thought about that-"

"Never work in the laundry department."

"Okay," you gave the woman her money as you scurried away with your purchase.

"Dear! Be safe!" She called to you.

You turned around. "Why? The ghouls are sweet."

"Come here." You did as you were told. The woman whispered her advice to you.

"Do not get too close to them. Ghouls are from Hell. Their basic instincts are to defend what is their own. They can snap; I've seen it myself. If you push them, they may take their anger out on you." The woman's concern made you anxious, but you doubted that your friends would really hurt you. You gave a brief thank-you, and went on your way.

. . .

"Move, bitch!"

Swiss swung his hips and hit Aether, who was in the way.

"Ow!"

"These voluptuous hips can throw grown men across the room. Careful, babe!" Swiss flirtatiously told Aether as he put a green bean casserole on hot pads. His chef hat started to lean off the top of his mask.

Aether rubbed his side after being flung into the kitchen island. "I thought Sodo was your 'babe'?"

"We don't talk about that here," Swiss growled.

You gave Aether a pained smile and dragged him into your hallway. He and Swiss were early, so you felt you could tell him.

"Aeth, I had a meeting with Swiss about a picture he took. Sodo was kissing another ghoul."

Aether's eyes widened.

"I know, it's quite shocking!"

Aether put his lips to your ears. "Sodo was kissing me."

"Holy shit!" You gasped. "You two a-are like a thing?"

"What?- No. We were talking about secret stuff and then Chair, a keyboard ghoul, came down the alleyway."

"Ooh. But how will we tell Swiss? He thinks Sodo is cheating."

Copia's voice called out a greeting to Swiss.

"We'll figure it out later."

You both walked back to the living area and found Copia helping Swiss bring out plates.