Nocturnal Me (Nameless Ghoul Rain/Water x Reader)

Chapter 14- Teardrop Tea

     "So not only did you waste matches, but you wasted tissues and raised the water bill?" You cringed at the memory. 

     "Eugh, don't remind me. I still feel bad about it." Your parents didn't let you off of that one easily. 

     "Pfft, that's pretty tame for childhood troublemaking, I've done way worse." You raised an eyebrow at him. 

     "Oh, pray tell?" The fire was heating up your face rapidly, and your toes had begun to burn from the quick temperature change. You tucked them under your legs and shielded them with the blanket. 

     "Well," Rain started, "If you insist." He had a small sip of his tea and cleared his throat.

     You angled your body towards him, giving the side of you that faced the fireplace a break from the flames. Rain had done the same in return, adjusting his position on the floor and getting more comfortable. 

     "It was a hot day in Hell-" 

     "Isn't it always?" 

     "On my level, yes, but it depends on where you were, really." Your eyes squinted in confusion. 

     "So... like Dante's Inferno?" 

     "Ehh..." The ghoul tilted his head to the side in thought, "Kinda but not at all, you know? It's a long conversation for another time, but I promise I'll explain it." You nodded your head in content, giving him the que to continue with his story. 

     "When I was around eight or nine, my brothers and I would always get into a lot of trouble. It was always their ideas, I just followed them because I wanted to be cool like my big bros." He scoffed to himself, "They weren't that cool. Kind of just assholes with charm." You covered your mouth with your hand to hide a small smile. "I see you laughing, don't think you can hide it from me." Rain prodded playfully. You waved your hand in dismissal. 

     "Keep going, don't mind me." You sampled your drink once more to test its temperature, deciding it was cool enough not to burn your tongue off. 

     "Well, one day, I heard my brothers plotting something in the other room, so naturally I eavesdropped into their conversation. They were planning on breaking into the school and leaving a decapitated deer head in the girl's locker room." 

     "Jesus Christ-" 

     "I know! Who even thinks to do that?" You looked at him in bafflement, eager to hear how this turned out. 

     "I was a good kid and liked to keep out of trouble as much as I could, but it seemed that trouble has always been attracted to me. My brothers came out of the room faster than I could hide myself, and they saw me listening to them. Usually if they caught me peeping they'd threaten me not to tell mom and/or just beat me up, but not this time. They knew that what they were doing could get them in serious trouble. There's not really any animals in Hell, at least, not any deer, so they'd have to break policy and breach the surface to get one, which is a major no-no if you're just a regular inhabitant like ghouls are."

     You absorbed all of this information like a sponge, only ever having heard a human-religious interpretation of the underworld. There must not be a lot of humans to hear of a personal recount, after all, not everyone is best friends with an otherworldly being. 

     "-so they put me in the plan with the idea that if I was involved, I wouldn't snitch. Not that I would have anyway, they've made it painfully clear what happens when I tattled on others." He rubbed his left arm absent-mindedly, the cup still being held by its small handle in his other hand. From the sounds of it, his brothers didn't seem very kind. Rain shook his head to clear his thoughts.