Bloody Angel: Book 3

Belated Birthday

"Yo, I could get used to this!"

Cumulus laughed as Swiss twirled in a circle, the skirt of the sleek deep silver dress he had on flaring up around him showing off his tight boxer briefs before she rubbed lightly at her chest. Swiss notices it and stops his twirling before crouching next to her, worry in his eyes.

“You okay, Lus?”

“I’m alright. Just a little achy when I laugh.” She reaches over and pats his cheek with a smile. “Now turn around so I can lace you in properly.”

Swiss leans into her touch with a gentle purr before he pivots, still in a crouch as Cumulus tightens the laces that line the back of the dress, huffing when it pulls the fabric taut over his midsection.

“I wonder how Dew’s doing with the girls,” Swiss muses with a soft chuckle as Cumulus ties off the laces and starts fussing with his hair. He’s let it grow longer and it was at that annoying stage where he couldn’t do much with it. As though his words were magic, they hear a screech followed by muffled curses and a yelp from the hall, from the first door to the right. Cirrus’ room.

“Try that again. I dare you.” Swiss pulls his lips in and bites down on them as he hears Cirrus’ stern no nonsense tone. “You destroy my makeup brushes and I’ll destroy your ass, and not in a way you’d enjoy.”

Swiss nearly chokes on his laugh before turning to face Cumulus, seeing her own held back laughter and smile. “Well, I think that answers your question.”

“I wanna watch this sooooo bad,” Swiss whines as he shifts in front of Cumulus who’s still running her fingers through his hair, “But I know if he sees me it’ll be game over and the girls won’t get to finish their masterpiece.”

"The wait will be worth it."

"Do you know what Aethers dress is?"

Cumulus huffs out a short soft laugh as she nods."Yup. All of my babies are gonna look so pretty tonight."

"Dew's gonna be the prettiest, though." Swiss sighs lightly and rests his head against her thigh, a purr rumbling in his chest again as she cards her fingers through his hair.

"You two are adorable together. You bring out the best in each other and it warms my heart to no end seeing him open up as much as he has lately." The ghoulette sighs softly, thinking back to how Dew was last year after Terzo was killed, after his pack got sent away to the pits with no warning. If Dew and Swiss weren't together on the grounds, if Copia hadn't gotten to Dew when he did, their loveable fiery gremlin would've been sent back as well and Cumulus couldn't imagine being here without him. Dew had spiraled quickly into a terrible depression, however, lashing out at anyone and everyone including herself unable to cope with the loss in a healthy way. Swiss was slowly able to bring him out of that.

"I’m happy, too. But truthfully I think Annie’s been the one to get him like this.” Swiss sighs softly. “Remember when she made those cookies for everyone and the brownies for him? That day after practice when he had an episode?”

Cumulus nods and hums her answer, looking down at him as he continues. “I had one of them. It.. It’s hard to describe. She always told us that you could taste the love in food made with bare hands. Well, she poured all of her love and then some into those brownies. I never got to feel my mothers embrace and I never had a father. Never felt love or companionship until I was here and that? That was so… so full of love beyond anything I could ever imagine. It overwhelmed me, overwhelmed us to the point of tears. It was after that he really started to open up again.”

Cumulus hums again, turning her gaze towards the hall where she knew Dew was getting ready with the girls. Annie being here really has changed so much. With the ghouls. With the siblings. Even with Papa. Her heart gave a faint pang thinking about Copia but beyond that she was happy. She’s never seen him happier, and she’s known him for many years at this point.