Nocturnal Me (Nameless Ghoul Rain/Water x Reader)

Chapter 11- A Crushing Confession

     Waking up was never easy, but this morning was especially tough. It felt like you had been hit by a truck the night before. All of the muscles in your body ached and protested being moved. Despite not having been this damn tired in a very long time, you got up and started your day. 

     You had an extra couple of minutes to eat your first meal in over twelve hours, talk with your friends, and fill them in on what happened yesterday, leaving out the part with you and Rain. Papa was appreciative of his black coffee and two sugars, and you left him to be juggled back and forth between clergy members. Nearly halfway through your day, Papa texted you to go to the post office and pick up a couple of packages. 

     It was well below forty degrees outside, so you layered your clothing and wore the scarf Papa III let you borrow. Since you were kicked out from your church in the late summer, you didn't feel the need to bring any warmer winter clothing other than a jacket you used to sleep on. Papa refused to let you go out with only your coat and held you still whilst he wrapped you in his clothing (much to your chagrin). It smelled faintly of cologne and his natural musk, but you were thankful that your nose wasn't frozen. 

     The windchill was strong enough to produce a whistle in your ears, the clouds gray and pregnant with snow due to come down later tonight. The cardinal shared mutual excitement for the first snow of the season. The cobblestone streets of the ancient little town had light traffic, most of the locals were finishing up their Christmas shopping before the stores closed for the holiday. The road was uneven under the soles of your shoes and gave somewhat of a satisfying massage to your aching feet. The air was crisp and stung your lungs. You brought the dark scarf to shield your mouth from the freezing atmosphere.

     You decided to stop into the shops before going to the post office so you didn't have to carry around a whole bunch of stuff for a long period of time (though at the end of the day, it didn't make a difference). There had been a lack of time to go out and buy your friends presents, but due to Papa's graciousness, you had your chance to. There had already been some gifts for Cardinal Copia and Papa II in your possession, those gifts being a couple of novels and bookmarks for the man in red and a bag of gingerbread for the latter. Despite your friendships with them still blooming, you didn't want to leave them out.

     You bought relatively inexpensive items and budgeted to the best of your ability. You had yet to receive your paycheck from the church. You weren't expecting that for another two weeks. From what you had been saving up and what you had taken when you left your old home, you had more than enough to spoil your pals. You never used your money on much back then.

     For Bea and Beau, you found a couple of cheap gag gifts along with make-up, rings, and earrings that you thought they'd enjoy. Several party crackers made their way into your basket. For your Papa, a giftcard to the local hoagie shop and a refurbished shiny silver watch to aid with his routine tardiness. He already had a watch on him at all times, but you recently found out that it wasn't actually functioning. Papa had only been using it as a facade so his brothers would get off his back about how late he was to everything. 

     Last week you would have had no idea what to get Aether, but after yesterday, you now couldn't choose. You decided on a pack of near top-line charcoal pencils and a couple of kneaded erasers. Whenever you drew something back in middle and highschool for art class, those always saved your work from looking like junk. You felt he would greatly appreciate them. 

     For Air, you got a small two hundred piece puzzle. Pictured on it were puppies in Santa hats. She'd often ask for help completing her jigsaws and you'd thoroughly enjoy doing so. 

     Multi was to receive an online gift card to feed her addiction to video games, and Swiss would get a really cool card deck with different demons and devils depicted on them. You found the perfect gifts for Mountain and Dewdrop in the small music store on a corner. The shop owner was able to make personalized drumsticks with an engraver, so you got the drummer ghoul's name branded onto them. You chuckled as you saw a pack of guitar picks with various insults stamped into them. It reminded you greatly of the fiery ghoul. You could already imagine Dew whipping the picks at you, "fuck you"s and "go to hell"s flying past your head as you laughed at his anger.